Wolf
by Destro-of-the-worldses
Summary: A young woman wishes to fight with the 501st JSW to defend her country, but will she be able to adapt to both the lifestyle and the company?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Strike Witches, though you could probably have figured that out right?

* * *

1. Potential

She had grown up with her grandparents, in London, until the age of two, when they died – one, a week after the other – and she had been sent to an orphanage, taking with her only a pocket watch and a bayonet, the only mementos she had of her parents. She had soon forgotten her old name and became known as Wolf, because of her ears and a tail that appeared whenever she was in a fight, which was often. When Wolf was about four, she ran away from the orphanage, she never got along with the other kids and had never once been put up for adoption. Not long after, she found herself in a run down old library in a bad neighbourhood, cold, hungry, afraid. The librarian, an old kindly man, who she never discovered the name of, took her in, in exchange for helping around the library.

He had died when Wolf was only five and a half, and that's when the trouble began. Several gangs tried to take occupancy of the abandoned library where Wolf had made her home, the worst of which had had ears and tails like Wolf, and had tried to burn it down. But Wolf had run them all off. The library was her home, and she would defend it to her last breath. Over the next several years, Wolf scrounged for food, kept the library in the best shape she could – which wasn't very good – read books, and simply survived, unlike so many others who had taken occupancy in the run down neighbourhood.

Once she heard of the Neuroi attacks, Wolf had gone straight to the recruitment office and had been turned down because of her criminal record. Several times she reapplied; several times she was rejected, until finally, the day after her seventeenth birthday, she was sent to see one Commander MinnaDietlindeWilcke, at an airbase near Dover. Wolf had been anything but happy when she met the Karlslander.

"What the hell do you mean 'not enough magical potential?" Wolf demanded, bashing her fist on the table.

Commander Wilcke threw down Wolf's file, the folder flying open as it hit the table, revealing a mug shot of Wolf, her hair dark and unkempt, a scar running down from her temple emphasising her large green eyes, her grin stupid – it was the latest one on record, she had been involved in a bar fight, very drunk and amused – only a couple of months old. "It means that you might not even be able to fly, even with intensive training. You'd be better off putting your skills to use as a healer. Honestly, you barely made it past the application stage with your criminal record."

Wolf threw her head up and laughed, "A healer? Like you said, you've seen my record, so you know that ain't gonna happen."

The Commander sighed tiredly, "You don't have enough power, even if you could somehow fly, you wouldn't be able to raise a shield, the first Neuroi that fires at you will kill you. Trust me, I've been doing this for a long time, I know your type. Listen, I know you don't have anywhere to stay, so we'll put you up here for a while, feed you, clean clothes, a warm bed."

"I don't need you charity," Wolf hissed, gripping the hilt of her foot long bayonet, strapped to her back and hidden under her worn, olive green shirt.

"And what do you intend to do with that thing?" Someone asked from behind wolf.

Wolf turned to see a Fuso woman with an eye patch. "And what _thing_ is this that you're talking about?" Wolf demanded, turning to the new arrival and releasing her bayonet.

The Fuso woman leaned on the door frame, "The knife under your shirt, the one that you were gripping."

Wolf shook her head, "Still dunno what you're talking about."

The Fuso woman lifted the eye patch to reveal a purple coloured eye. "There's no use lying to me, I can see everything."

"I expect that to be kept in your quarters," Commander Minna said, lacing her fingers and leaning on the desk.

"I told you I don't want your charity," Wolf reiterated angrily.

"It isn't charity," the Karlslander woman replied firmly, "you'll be earning your keep."

Wolf's face lit up, "So I'm in?"

Commander Wilcke shook her head, "No. Like I said, you don't have enough magical potential."

Wolf tried to protest again, but Commander Wilcke raised her hand just as Wolf opened her mouth, "No more arguments, you cannot be a Witch, at least this way you can help. Major Sakamoto, can you please show Wolf to an unoccupied room."

"Come on," Major Sakamoto, the woman leaning in the door, said. She waited for Wolf to move. Wolf didn't, if she wasn't in their army, she wouldn't act like one of their soldiers. The Major grew impatient, grabbed Wolf's sleeve and dragged her to her room.

It was a bare room, with only a large bed and an equally large closet. Wolf had seen beds like that before but never actually had the chance to sleep in one, not that she remembered anyway. _Maybe this won't be so bad_. The Major threw her into the room, "Stay here for now and I'll send Sergeant Miyafuji to get you to help with the cooking. And leave the knife in here as well."

"It's a bayonet," Wolf corrected, seeing no reason to continue denying its existence.

"Just leave it in here. Do you have any questions, I have things to do." It was obvious to Wolf that she was a nuisance to the Major.

"Just one, I can't cook."

The Major shook her head and left.

"But I really can't!" Wolf protested as the Major walked down the hall.

_Now what?_Wolf thought as she sat on the bed, and then moved to the floor. The bed was far too soft to be comfortable. She got up and checked the closet. There were a couple of bed sheets in it, but nothing else.

With nothing better to do, Wolf decided to go exploring. _The Commander expects me to work here; best I know where everything is_.

Before getting to the end of the hall, Wolf ran into a short Fuso girl, literally. Instinctively, Wolf's ears and tail had emerged and the bayonet was drawn from its sheath. She only just managed to stop herself from running the other girl though, the blade poked only just far enough into her chest to cut the first layer of skin.

"Sorry 'bout that," Wolf said as she re-sheathed the bayonet, the wolf ears and tail disappearing.

The girl looked at her, stunned, dumbfounded, at a loss for words. She blinked and shook her head, then her own ears and tail appeared. "Who are you? What are you doing here?" she asked firmly, placing a hand on her training sword.

"Wolf," the Britannian replied with a wink.

The Fuso girl took her hand off the training sword. "I'm Sergeant YoshikaMiyafuji, are you a new Witch?"

"Um, not quite," Wolf rubbed the back of her neck, "Not yet, anyway."

"Do you want someone to show you around?"

_How convenient_. "Yeah, thanks."

Sergeant Miyafuji led Wolf first to the dinning room/kitchen area, then the public bath/shower, the hanger, and several other important locations, and finally they ended up in the training yard, where it seemed Major Sakamoto was instructing a few other Witches in the art of swordsmanship. _A useless art_, Wolf thought.

"What are you doing out here?" the Major demanded when she saw Wolf.

Wolf put her hands on her head, pushed her chest out, stood as tall as she could – she was a little shorter then the Major – and smiled. "Well, I thought since Imma be put to work around here, I should probably know where everywhere is. It's not like I was allowed to enlist, so you can't actually give me an order."

"I see you point," the Major said after taking a couple of moments to think, "but we're doing important training here, so you will have to leave."

Wolf chuckled a little, which seemed to aggravate the Major who asked a little angrily an eyebrow raised in irritation, "You do not think our training is important?"

"Training in itself, is important. Training with a sword however, is just plain stupid."

"Stupid, eh?" The major rubbed her chin and nodded as if agreeing. Suddenly, Major Sakamoto's sword, still in its scabbard, was being swung at Wolf's head by the one eyed woman. Wolf's ears and tail appeared. The bayonet was out of its sheath. In the space of a second, Wolf deflected the swing and knocked the sword out of the Fuso Woman's hand.

Everyone save the Major stared at wolf, eyes wide, mouths agape.

Unlike before, when Sergeant Miyafuji had surprised her, Wolf did not put her ears and tail away. She was faster with them out, a lot faster, and her bayonet was nigh unbreakable. The Major had instigated combat, and Wolf did not back down – which was one of the reasons she had a criminal record in the first place, now that she thought about it.

"If swordsmanship is such a waste of time," the major said as she retrieved her sword, "how come you are so well versed in it?"

"That was not swordsmanship," Wolf replied flatly, "that was the result of having to raise yourself in the mean streets of London." Wolf snarled, and held the bayonet just under shoulder level, ready to thrust forward or parry, "Now unsheathe that thing and let's finish this."

Major Sakamoto put the sword over her shoulder and laughed heartily, "You are a strange girl. Why don't you go back to your room and get some rest, hmm? Oh, and next time you leave, don't take that bayonet with you."

Wolf shook her head, "I can't do that. This bayonet, my pocket watch, this shirt," she pulled on the front of her shirt, "and these pants," she pointed at her grey pants with the other hand, "are all that I own, and I do not go anywhere without them."

"Very well, but make sure it stays sheathed." The Major looked at Sergeant Miyafuji, "Miyafuji, take our guest back to her room, then return here."

The Sergeant escorted Wolf back to her room, and promptly left after saying just to call her Yoshika in the future.

Wolf sat on the floor with her back against the bed and her hands behind her head. Then a thought occurred; _I wonder if they have the parts to build a crystal radio? I wouldn't have to wander around to entertain myself then_.

After fifteen minutes there was a knock at the door.

Wolf opened the door to a brown haired girl, not Yoshika, in a green jacket who looked a bit nervous, and was trying not to show it. _Either you're shy or you heard about what happened with the me and the Major_.

"Um, high, I'm Lynette Bishop," the girl said, getting more confident with each word, it was good to find another Britannian in this sea of foreigners, "Yoshika told me about you and I though I would come say hello and introduce myself."

"Hi."

Wolf waited for a moment for the girl to leave, but it didn't look like she would. Wolf sighed, "Why don't you come in, not like I have any other way to occupy my time at the moment."

Wolf stepped out of the doorway so that the other Britannian could some in, and took a seat on the ground next to the bed. "Make yourself at home."

"This room is pretty bare, if you want I can show you a place you can buy stuff, furniture and that."

Wolf shook her head, "I haven't got any money. Oh, by the way, don't look forward to dinner too much tonight. I've been assigned to cooking duty and I can't cook for shit." Wolf saw Lynette's shock when she swore, _must's be used to that sort of language here, hmm?_

Lynette seemed to recover from her shock pretty quickly "Don't worry, Yoshika and I are pretty good cooks, we'll help."

"You're on cooking duty too? Who did you… annoy to get that?" _I hope the others aren't this skittish when it comes to swearing around here, censoring all my language will drive me insane_.

"No one, Yoshika and I are the newest members so we do the cooking and cleaning."

Wolf pursed her lips, "I see. Say, you wouldn't happen know where I could find the parts to build a crystal radio would you?"

"Well, I know a hardware store not fare from here, but since you don't have any money, you might be able to get Shirley to help you find some stuff around the base." Lynette took a watch out her pocket and checked the time, "Uh-oh, we'd better go get started cooking, I think Yoshika is already down there."

Lynette led Wolf to the kitchen/dining room where Yoshika had already started cooking; _I thought Yoshika was supposed to fetch me. One track mind perhaps?_Lynette went and washed her hands but Wolf settled for pulling up her sleeves, "So what do you want me to do?"

"Wash your hands first," Yoshika said as she filled a big pot with water.

Wolf rolled her eyes and followed the instruction. "Now what?"

"Dice some carrots and potatoes, about fifty of each should do."

"Where are the potatoes and carrots?"

Lynette pointed at a cupboard near the front counter with her foot; she was cutting up beef or something and didn't bother to look away, she obviously knew the kitchen area well.

All the utensils were already laid out on the bench, which Wolf thought was convenient. She got the vegetables and began dicing them. Then once she was done Yoshika instructed her to put them in the big pot, so she did. The meat Lynnette had been cutting was already in there.

"What are we making exactly?" Wolf wondered aloud.

"Venison and rabbit stew," Lynette answered, "with pees and fresh bread."

Yoshika put some pees in another, smaller, pot of boiling water. "You get started on the bread, Wolf, while we get finished on the stew."

"But I don't know how to make bread," Wolf protested.

"The ingredients and measurements are all on the side," Yoshika waved her finger in the general direction of the ingredients and what Wolf hopped was a recipe, "Just put it all in the bowl, mix a little and then knead it. I'll be able to help when I'm done here."

Once all the cooking had been finished, Yoshika and Lynette had decided that Wolf should serve everybody, who would be there in a couple of minutes.

"Who are you?" a buxom Liberion asked; the first to arrive, though only by a few seconds.

"Wolf," Wolf replied with a wink and a grin as she put a ladle of stew on the Liberion's plate.

"Pleasure to meet you, the name's , but you can just call me Shirley. Don't hesitate to ask if you need anything"

Wolf remembered what Lynette had said about Shirley being able to help with a crystal radio. She put a ladle of pees on the plate and asked, "Would you be able to help me scrounge up the parts to make a crystal radio?"

"Sure thing," Shirley replied enthusiastically, "Come by the hanger tomorrow morning and I'll help you out."

"Hurry up," a bespectacled Gallian said impatiently from behind Shirley, Wolf recognised her from Major Sakamoto's sword practice. _Dressed a bit fancy for a soldier. A noble woman perhaps?_

"Chill out four eyes," Wolf told her, "You're getting the same slop as everyone else, won't matter if you have to wait a minute."

Two hands suddenly gabbed Wolf's breasts from behind. Ears and tail out, Wolf stepped on the tows of the assailant and elbowed them in the face, freeing herself. She turned about to see that her assailant was a girl of about thirteen, with dark, greenish hair. Wasting no time, Wolf brought up her foot and heel-kicked the girl in the chest, and then pounced, drawing her bayonet at the same time, and landed on the girl's arms just as the girl landed on the ground. With the bayonet held to her throat, the left hand flat on the pommel ready to drive it through. Wolf said fiercely between gritted teeth, "You'd better have a bloody good reason for what you just did, otherwise I'm gonna gut you like a fish."

The girl was scared out her mind, her mouth worked but no words came out.

"Wolf!" Major Sakamoto yelled, "Get off her now!"

Wolf turned her head just enough to see Major Sakamoto out the corner of her eye, the Fuso woman gripping her sword which was only part way out of its scabbard.

Wolf turned her attention back to the girl that had felt her up and growled, "You got lucky, this time." Wolf got off the girl, put her bayonet away, and went back to counter and said, "Next," as if nothing had happened.

Everyone just stood there, staring at her.

"Next," Wolf said again, a bit more firmly, banging the ladle on the pot.

Major Sakamoto came up and put her hand out. "Knife, now."

"It's a bayonet," Wolf corrected, meeting the Major's firm look, "And I'll as soon part with an arm or this watch," Wolf took her watch out her pocket, opened it revealing the engraving of one of them Karlsland Iron Crosses over a plane, and dangled it in front of the Major, "as my bayonet."

"Don't make me take it by force," the Major warned.

Wolf put the watch away and smiled wolfishly, "you can try. Next!"

000

Mio and Trude were both standing in front of Minna's desk, and both of them were angry.

"You need to get rid of her," Trude said firmly, "she is of no use to us here."

"I agree with the Lieutenant," Mio said just as firmly.

"Is that what we do now?" Minna asked them tiredly, leaning on her elbow, "Ignore people who need help?"

"When they draw a knife," Trude said, "yes. You were there in the dining room. She nearly killed Lucchini."

"Doesn't matter, there isn't anything you can say that will make me change my mind," Minna told the pair, "And this can take some of the pressure off of Miyafuji and Bishop, letting them do more training."

Mio's face grew slightly softer for a moment, "I've seen that look on your face before, is there something you aren't telling us?" Minna knew very well what look the Major talked of.

"Nothing that you need know. And as you said, I was there in the dining room, and I saw how fast she moved. Mio, you had only gotten the chance to half draw your sword in the time she had pinned down Lucchini, and you reacted after the first blow."

"You sound like you want to make her a Witch," Trude said in disgust.

"I do."

Mio shook her head, "But wasn't it you who said she didn't have enough magical potential?"

"I did, but that was before I saw how fast she moves and that watch that she carries around."

Trude scratched the side of her head, "What difference does a watch make?"

"I knew her father and mother," Minna leaned forward and placed her chin on her laced fingers, "Both of them were from Karlsland like you and I, Trude, both of them died when the Neuroi attacked, and I guess you could say I feel responsible for that girl, now."


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't, and in all likelyhood, never will own Strike Witches

* * *

2. Opportunities

Wolf was in the hanger with Shirley, the only one of the Witches that treated her like a normal person, rather than a nuisance or a danger. Shirley was busying herself with maintenance on her Striker Unit, while Wolf examined the weapons on the wall, and both listened to the crystal radio Wolf had constructed with some help from the ginger Liberian.

On a number of occasions, Wolf had expressed her desire to learn to shoot properly. She was an okay shot with a rifle at close range, but most battles were fought at long range in the skies, and that was Wolf's ultimate goal.

"I'll tell you what," Shirley said after Wolf yet again said that she would like to be a better shot, "I'll get my hands on an M1 Garand for you to practice with, and you stop pestering me, deal?" The Liberion spat in her hand and offered it Wolf.

Wolf looked at the hand for a moment, then spat in her own and they shook, "Deal."

It took two weeks for the rifle to arrive, and when it finally did, Shirley took Wolf straight to the range.

"You need to line up the rear and the forward sights," she instructed from her perch atop a wooden crate, "and keep it held firmly against your shoulder. Fire whenever you're ready. And squeeze the trigger, don't pull. Take a deep breath and fire on the exhale."

Wolf lined up the sights with a target that must have been fifty feet away. She took a deep breath. Exhaled and squeezed the trigger. And missed. She tried again, and again, and again, until the eight round clip was spent and the rifle made its trademark _PING_. She reloaded and tried again, making sure to line up the sights, only squeezing the trigger, and fire on the exhale each time, and missed each time. She reloaded again.

By midday, Shirley smacked her forehead with her palm, "You know, you should have at least got one hit by accident by now."

"I got the next one," Wolf assured her, and then turned her attention back to the range.

"Hold on a sec," Shirley said, jumping from her crate, "Why aren't you using you magic?"

"My ears and tail? I want to be good at firing without using my magic, because Commander Wilcke said that I may not even be able to fly, but if I can, and I do manage to join up, I'll need all my energy to fly, so I can't waste it shooting."

Shirley shook her head, "That's just stupid."

"No it isn't," Wolf said a little angrily, and pulled the trigger, actually hitting a target, on the edge of the target true, but a hit none the less. Wolf grinned at Shirley, "Told you I could do it."

Over the next few weeks, Wolf spent all her spare time at the firing range, every few days or so increasing the distance by ten feet. Eventually, she was hitting the bullseye every time at a range of 2000 feet.

One day Wolf was in the hanger with Shirley, cleaning and striping her rifle as the Liberion tinkered with her Striker Unit, and Perrine was preforming maintenance on her own Striker Unit, which was kind of unusual.

Wolf finished reassembling her rifle and looked down the sights, making sure she had realigned them properly, using Perrine as the 'reference point', and Perrine suddenly snapped, putting too much emphasis on the H, "What do you think you are doing?"

_So what if I had you in my sights,_ Wolf thought tiredly,_ it's not bloody loaded_.

Wolf looked at her blankly, then stuck her nose in the air in imitation of the Gallian, "Why, I'm cleaning my rifle of course, what a ridiculous question."

Perrine glared at Wolf and sniffed, "I guess I shouldn't expect decent manners from a mongrel like you."

That was the last straw, the whole time Wolf had been there, Perrine had acted like a pretentious hag. Wolf got up calmly, walked over to Shirley and picking up one of the Liberion's leather gloves asked, "Can I borrow this?"

"Sure," Shirley said, not really paying atention.

Wolf walked back over the Perrine and slapped her across the face with the glove, "You have insulted me, madam. I challenge you to a duel!"

The Gallian woman was flabbergasted, "What!"

"You may use any weapon you wish, with the exception of you Strikers, and you may also choose the battle field." Wolf pushed a clip into her rifle and pushed the bolt forward, "Or we could settle it right here right now if you really want?"

It was obvious that Perrine had no idea how to react.

Shirley stepped in-between them with her arms outstretched, "Whoa, calm down, no need for a duel. We can settle this like adults, right?"

"Stay out of this, Shirley," Wolf warned, "She wants to act all high and mighty, then she can back up her words. Now find yourself a weapon, cheese eating surrender monkey."

Perrine's right eye began to twitch, _Excellent, I hit a nerve!_ "What did you call me, mongrel?" Perrine spat the last word.

"Sorry, wasn't I speaking loud enough? You are a cheese. Eating. Surrender. Monkey!"

"Listen to what you saying…" Shirley said frantically, trying to find a way to disarm the situation before it got messy.

"What's going on here?" Major Sakamoto demanded as she walked in with Yoshika, Lynette and Lucchini, the girl that had tried to feel her up and that was now terrified out of her wits of Wolf, and hidden right behind the Major.

"I was challenging Perrine to a duel," Wolf replied, not at all fazed by the fact that there were several people watching; "Now I await the surrender monkey's response."

"Enough of this," the Major said, stepping in front of Shirley so that she faced Wolf. _Ha! She thinks I'm a bigger threat than the Gallian, point one to me._ "Bishop, go get Barkhorn and Hartmann, now!"

Wolf saw the Britannian running off out the corner of her eye, but she maintained eye contact with Perrine.

"Stop this now, Perrine!" Major Sakamoto ordered over her shoulder.

It was like someone had just hit Perrine over the head, she blushed and looked away, saying meekly, "Yes, ma'am."

The two Karlslanders arrived and Barkhorn grabbed Wolf's arms. Hartmann, Barkhorn and Sakamoto 'escorted' Wolf to Commander Wilcke's office, where the Commander massaged her temples at the sight of Wolf; she had been in trouble a couple of time now.

"What did you do this time?" Commander Wilcke asked tiredly.

"I challenged Perrine to a duel," Wolf replied nonchalantly with a shrug.

"Why?" again, tiredly. The Commander must have been really sick of Wolf's visits.

"Because she's a pretentious tosser who needs to learn not to be such a pain in the arse, and what better way than shooting off hers?"

Wolf heard Hartmann chuckle behind her, but she kept her eyes forward, on the Commander.

"You know I have to put you in solitary confinement for a week now, right?"

"I didn't even bloody start it! She was the one that came up and got in my face!"

"We can't keep you around if you are going to continue to act like this. You say you want to be a Witch, but then you go and act like this, why?"

Wolf cleared her throat, "If memory serves me correctly, _you_ were the one who said I didn't have enough 'magical potential'." Wolf said the last couple of words mockingly.

"Karlsland engineering is making leaps everyday, who knows what the future brings."

The Karlslanders and the Commander brought Wolf to her room and locked her in. When she was let out a week later, the first place she went to was the hanger to get her rifle so that she could go to the range, catch up on the time lost over the past week. In the hanger, she found a man examining the Striker Units; he wore a Liberion uniform just like Shirley's, but with pants, and a military cap with a little of his red hair spilling out the side. "Who are you?" Wolf asked a little rudely, gripping her bayonet and putting out her ears and tail, "what are you doing here?" She couldn't remember where she had read it or who had said, 'offer one hand, but arm the other', but that saying had saved her skin on more than one occasion.

He looked at her, perplexed for a moment, then grinned broadly just like Shirley and stuck out his hand, "Commander RichardYeager, you must be the infamous Wolf."

Wolf looked at the hand suspiciously; Shirley had never mentioned a brother. A coincidence perhaps? Wolf shook the hand, saying flatly, "That's right Dick, I am that Wolf. You still haven't fully answered my other question."

"'Coarse," he said as if the most obvious thing in the world, "my little sister and your Commander pulled a few strings to get me here, so that I can train you to be a Strike Witch." From his tone, you would have thought he was commenting on the weather!

Wolf blinked thrice before her wits returned, and a single, very important question: "How the hell are you going to train me to be a Witch! You're a guy! You don't even have ears and a tail!"

"You mean magic?"

Wolf nodded.

"Well, 'those that cannot do, teach', right? Any more questions before we get started?" _Yup, definitely Shirley's brother_.

Wolf crossed her arms and grumbled, "I still don't get how you can teach me."

"I'll be honest with you," he lifted his cap and scratched the top of his head, "I have no idea. Why don't we start with hitting a fast moving target? Charlotte tells me you're quite a god shot with a Garand, though you've only fired at stationary targets so far."

_Who's Charlotte? Oh, right, Shirley_. "Where are we going to find fast moving targets?"

Dick scratched his head again, "I suppose we could use the other Witches as targets, they're doing some dogfighting at the moment."

"The chance to shoot at Perrine? How the hell would I pass that one up, Dick?"

"Yes," he said quietly, rubbing his chin, "I heard there was some bad blood between you two. And it's Commander Yeager, not Dick; gotta respect you superiors and all that."

"I ain't in the army," Wolf said with a wolfish grin, "Now let's go shoot at Perrine."

Wolf walked over and grabbed her rifle.

"What are you doing?" Dick asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Getting my rifle."

"Use the orange training gun, live ammunition might send the wrong message."

Wolf sighed, but grabbed the training rifle anyway. "This isn't going to be as fun now."

Dick grinned, "I'm not here for your entertainment. Oh, and take this," he handed Wolf an orange training handgun similar to the one on his hip, "now let's get in the car." He pointed out the hanger at a jeep with his thumb.

000

Shirley was acting as the referee for the current dogfight: Yoshika and Perrine against Lynette and Lucchini. Yoshika and Perrine were working well together, but Lynette and Lucchini were keeping an eye on each other's backs so that Yoshika can't sneak in from behind while Perrine distracted them.

"You ready up there, Charlotte?" Richard asked over the radio.

"Yeah, but it's Shirley, not Charlotte."

"Whatever, just be ready to give the order."

It was a plan orchestrated by Commander Wilcke, Richard, and Shirley. They would get Wolf to shoot at the Witches dogfighting, and then when she gets a hit, Shirley or Commander Wilcke, whoever happened to be in charge at the time, would say that the training has changed and that they are after a ground target. Wolf would do her best to evade the Witches and they would do their best to catch her. The skills learnt dodging the Witches through the trees would be easily transferable to flying a Striker.

000

"Alright," Dick said as the jeep arrived at the edge of the forest, "Go into the forest and do your best to hit one of them. Stay in there until you run out of ammo, and if they start attacking you, run. Still try and shoot them but don't get hit yourself." He threw a communicator to Wolf who was already out of the car, "Call me when either you're out of ammo or you've been hit. Or you happen to shoot all of them."

"Imma bag me a Perrine," Wolf said excitedly before running into the forest.

Commander Yeager waited till Wolf would be well out of earshot, then hailed his sister on the communicator, "You ready up there, Charlotte?"

"Yeah, but it's Shirley, not Charlotte."

"Whatever, just be ready be ready to give the order."

Richard put his feet on the steering wheel and pulled his cap over his eyes. After fifteen minutes, he contacted his sister again. "You trained her to use that rifle, what do you think her odds of hitting someone are?"

There was no response for a good thirty seconds, "Not a lot. With no idea how far to lead the targets and with their erratic behaviour, I'd give her a couple of weeks before she gets even close."

"I dunno," Richard said mischievously, "She's seems hell bent on gunning down that Gallian noble woman, Perrine."

Shirley laughed, "Yeah, I told you about Wolf challenging her to a duel right?"

"Yup, why are they at each other's throats anyway?"

"Their attitudes. Each of them is as proud of the way they act as the other, and they refuse to make a compromise and as such, find each other intolerable. They're a potent mix." After a moment, she added dryly, "You're planning on teaming them up once Wolf's flying, aren't you?"

"Oh yeah, why wouldn't I?"

"You're a cruel man." Despite his sister's angry tone, Richard could hear the laughter in her voice. "Oh shit!" Shirley began shouting orders at the other Witches, who Richard saw flying hectically, no longer in a pattern, once he lifted his cap enough to see the sky.

"What is it?" he asked quickly as he grabbed the wheel and turned the key.

"Perrine's been hit by Wolf!"

000

Wolf had found a nice spot up in a tree where she had a good view of the Witches, and had fired about forty three rounds at Perrine before she got a hit. She couldn't help but grinning, it was chaos up there. Unlike usual, she was using her ears and tail, simply so that she could see the target, Perrine, clearly.

She hit Perrine another two times before the Witches had reorganised themselves and were flying closer to the ground. After some thought, Wolf decided to stay where she was, the others hadn't found her yet after all. Yoshika flew overhead and Wolf fired, missing, and hearing the distinct _PING_ that the Garand makes when it's out of ammo. Yoshika turned to her straight away and began firing.

"Oh shit!" Wolf muttered as she jumped into the next tree, Yoshika close on her tail, but unable to get a decent shot because of the dense foliage above. Wolf reloaded her rifle on the run, fumbling with the first clip and dropping it, and losing the second clip as she evaded to the left to avoid the angry, orange dotted Perrine that swooped in form the other side.

Wolf caught Lynette and Lucchini's scent ahead. _So, they're herding me are they?_Perrine was closer than Yoshika, and was being much more conservative with her ammo. Wolf gave up on her Garand and threw it behind her, then grabbed a tree trunk, spun around, and landed on Perrine's back.

"What do you think you're doing?" Perrine demanded frantically as she continued to dodge trees.

Wolf grinned and said, "Woof, woof," Before pulling the sidearm Dick had given her and shooting Perrine in the back of the head four times, then took the Gallian's gun and said, "I believe that means you are out of the game."

She was still heading in the direction of the ambush, so Wolf dropped to the ground with a roll and hid behind a tree as Yoshika passed. _No has ever outrun me, and no one ever will, even with a Striker_.

Lynette's scent grew stronger; however Lucchini's grew fainter, most likely heading down wind, and Yoshika's stayed the same. _Perrine must have told them what happened_. They were surrounding her, _problematic. Good thing I got a machinegun_. Something hit Wolf in the chest hard and she hit the tree trunk with a grunt. _Dammit, I didn't even see where that came from!_ Orange paint covered her chest, a lot of orange paint, Probably from Lynette's anti-armour rifle.

Wolf turned on her communicator, "I been hit."

"Take any of them others out?" Dick asked.

Wolf felt a smile touch her lips. "Yeah, Perrine. Several times."

"Alright, make your way back to the jeep and I'll drive you home to be cleaned up."

Wolf didn't like the sound of that, she still had ammo. "Don't we try again?"

000

"How much ammo do you have left?" Richard asked, watching some squirrels fighting over an acorn.

"Dunno, I stole Perrine's gun. I should probably go find my own."

"You do that, then find a place to hide while the Witches regroup. When I give the signal, you start hunting and evading again."

Richard switched frequencies so that he could hail his sister. "You're guys ready to go again?"

"Always ready," was Shirley's response, "we're the best after all."

Richard lit a cigarette; it was going to be a long day, "A cocky attitude will get you killed, and you know how that would break my heart."

"Yes, _mum_."

000

Shirley had been prepared for a bit of attitude from Perrine, but she had seemed to be Wolf's only target, and now she was getting nasty, nastier than usual anyway… "Look at this," she pointed to the back of her head where Wolf had shot her, "do you have ay idea how long that will take to wash out? And she took my gun! That mongrel is going to pay!"

"Settle down," Shirley told her, "This is all part of training."

"Yeah," Lucchini interrupted, "just think how proud of you the Major will be when she finds out you were helping with Wolf's training."

Perrine blushed, "you really think…?"

"I'm worried," Yoshika said, "She seemed to be acting pretty reckless in there."

Shirley put her hands in her jackets pockets, "It's better she's reckless in there and we train it out of her than have her be reckless when she gets in a Striker."

"I thought she didn't have enough magic to use a Striker?" Lucchini said with a puzzled look.

"Don't look at me," Shirley said with a shake of her head, "my brother and the Commander have only told me this much of the plan."

000

Wolf spent most of her days training like that, shooting at the flying witches then evading them for as long as possible, did it for a couple of weeks, getting swifter each time and being able to use her ears and tail for a little longer, until one day, Dick told her to meet him at the highest part of the base. When Wolf got there, she saw him leaning over the railing with a cigarette in hand, and a pair of Striker Units next to him.

"Quite a nice view," Dick said after a long drag from his cigarette, "don't you think?"

"It's pretty nice I guess," Wolf said with a shrug, feigning nonchalance. She really did like the view, there had been nothing like this in London where she'd grown up.

"Why don't you try that one," Dick waved his hand at the Strikers without looking; "It's the latest from Karlsland, a Heinkel He 119 long range reconnaissance Striker made especially for people like yourself."

"What do you mean, what makes it so special?"

"It's a low output Striker. The wings a larger to provide more lift, and have flaps to assist with steering, as well as requiring less magical energy to operate, allowing a regular Witch to fly for longer, or a not so powerful Witch to fly with the others."

Wolf looked at the machine sceptically. It was a bit smaller than the other units in the hanger. "What about shields?"

Dick laughed heartily, a bit like the Major did, "Why do you think I was running you though that forest day in and day out, for shits and giggles? I think that you're agile enough to dodge the beams, henceforth, no need for a shield."

Wolf though about it for a moment, then thought, _what could be the harm_…

Just as she went to climb in after taking off her boots, Dick said, "Take off your pants."

"What!" Wolf exclaimed incredulously, then in a somewhat calmer tone, "Are you coming on to me? I mean, you're a nice enough guy and all, but… well…" Wolf was searching for a polite way to let him down.

"No you bloody idiot," he growled, "the Strikers don't work when you wear pants."

"But Sanya, Eila and Perrine wear pants," Wolf protested, "why can't I?"

"They wear leggings and tights, which are much thinner than your pants."

"Well I'm not bloody taking them off."

"Then roll them up, I don't care, just make sure your bare lags are showing."

"You're a bloody pervert," Wolf told him as she rolled up he pants and got in the Strikers. It was a little uncomfortable, but there was no way in hell she was taking off her pants. It was wash day and she was wearing her emergency undies, which were made up of more patches than original fabric by now.

"Now focus your magical energy into the Strikers," Dick instructed, "imagine the propellers moving and try to stand up."

Wolf's ears and tail appeared and she followed the man's instruction. After a moment the blue propellers appeared and she was standing. And laughing.

"That's the spirit," Dick said with a grin as broad as she knew her own was, though his was a hint mischievous, "Are you ready to fly?"

"Hell yeah-" Wolf was cut off as Dick, living up to his name, pushed her over the edge.

She fell nearly halfway down, screaming curses at Shirley's brother most of the way, before she found that she had some semblance of control over the Strikers, albeit a small amount of control. She pulled up just short of hitting the ground and flew parallel to it, then went a bit higher, and turned back to the base. It all came crashing down when she swallowed a bug and lost concentration. Gripping her throat, she hit the ground hard and bounced a couple of times before stopping.

Wolf's head was spinning, her ears were ringing, and her vision was blurred and covered with silver specs. She could feel someone checking her over, at least she hopped it was checking her over and not robbing her, she could barely move. Her vision and sight began to return and she saw it was Yoshika, healing her.

"Is she alright?" Commander Wilcke asked over Yoshika's shoulder.

"I'm bloody fine," Wolf groaned through clenched teeth, "thank you for asking."

"Shoosh," Yoshika told her harshly, "Don't waste your energy. You have internal bleeding and several broken bones, as well as a concussion and damaged spine. Now shut it so I can concentrate."

Wolf shut up and slowly slipped into unconsciousness.

When she awoke, Wolf found herself in a hospital bed with both Dick and Shirley looking over her, the afternoon sun filtering through the half open window above them.

"You okay?" Shirley asked with a relieved smile.

Wolf sat up in the bed and rubbed the back of her head. "I guess so… wait, what's wrong with my hair?" It didn't feel like it normally did, it was kind of un-greasy and un-matted and… "Who the hell washed my hair!" she demanded angrily.

Wolf picked up the conveniently placed mirror beside the bed and examined herself. Not only was her hair cleaned and brushed – and about shoulder length, which she didn't know before – but the dashing scar down the side of her face was gone. "I'm gonna bloody kill Yoshika!"

Just before Wolf jumped out of the bed in a rage, she realised that she was wearing very little underneath and pulled the covers up as far as they would go.

"Cigarette?" Dick asked, offering the packet to Wolf, seemingly uncaring of her unclothed state.

Shirley slapped his hand, knocking the cigarettes to the floor, "You know you're not allowed to do that in here," she growled quietly, "this is a hospital!"

Wolf tried to pull the covers up past her chin, even though that was unnecessary. "Where the hell are my clothes?" she wondered as she looked around the room.

"In the draw beside the bed," Dick informed her, scooping up his cigarette packet and glaring at his sister, "we'll get out while you change."

The Yeager siblings left and Wolf waited a good ten seconds before getting out from under the covers. She quickly checked herself over and was relieved that the scar on her side was still there, Yoshika hadn't gotten rid of all her trophies. She went to the bedside table and got all her stuff out of it, minus her pants, which simply weren't there. At least her pocket watch and bayonet were still there, though.

"Where the hell are my pants?" Wolf demanded when Dick and Shirley returned, with Yoshika and Commander Wilcke following close behind.

"You won't be needing them anymore," the Commander said with a smile, and then she held out a palm sized pin, a pair of golden wings with a blue circle in the centre with a pentagram made from brooms on it, "Welcome to the five oh first, Sergeant."

Wolf snatched the pin from the Commanders hand, grinned, and stuck it to her chest, then snapped to attention and saluted, "Thank you, ma'am."

"No need for that," the Commander told her with a shake of the head, "do you ever see the others doing that?"

"No, ma'am, but I can't use the excuse that I ain't in your army any more. But seriously, I want my pants back." It wasn't a request, but an ultimatum.

"They're in your room. The Major begins training early by the way, so get to bed early." Commander Wilcke walked out without another word.

Wolf turned to the Fuso girl, her eyes daggers that pierced into Yoshika's very soul, "Why did you get rid of my scar?" Wolf traced where the scar used to be with her finger.

Yoshika stepped back and said defensively, "I just healed all your injuries. Except for the scar down your side, that one…" Yoshika seemed to be searching for the right words, "resisted, like it didn't want to be healed, I don't know why." And then after a pause, "How did you get it?"

Wolf put on her best humble grin and placed her hands atop her head, "Defending the public library from a gang of ear and tail users like myself."

"_You_ defended a _library_?" All three of them exclaimed at once, more shocked at the fact that Wolf had protected a place like a library than the fact that she had defeated a whole gang of ear and tail users.

"Of coarse," Wolf replied with a shrug, "why do you think my vocabulary is so extensive and I know how to build a crystal radio and shit like that even though I raised myself? Books."

"Well…" Shirley seemed to be searching for the words now, "we never really thought about it."

Dick took his cigarettes out again and put them away after receiving a glare from both Yoshika and Shirley, then asked in a businesslike manner, "What happened out there?"

"After some wanker pushed me off the tower, I flew for a little bit, then swallowed a bug and nearly died. Or did you perhaps miss that part?"

"You'll have to forgive him," Shirley teased, "he can be crude at best."

Dick smacked her in the back of the head, "It's called low tech solutions to high tech problems, idiot."

"I'm starved," Wolf told them, putting a hand to her stomach. As much as she would love to see the Liberians having at each other, she felt like she could eat a horse.

Yoshika grabbed Wolf's sleeve, "C'mon, dinners ready."


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: As posting a story here on may elude to, I do not own Strike Witches.

* * *

3. Lessons

Wolf awoke early, as she had done so for the past several days since becoming a Witch, and donned her new leather flight jacket. It had been a gift from the Yeager siblings that they had given her a couple of days after becoming a Witch, and only last night had Wolf finished stitching in a wolf's snarling head with crossed brooms behind it into the back. On the left sleeve was a larger, stitched, version of the 501st pin, that she wore on her chest, and on the right sleeve was the chevron for sergeant. Next was he pistol belt, which also had a sheath for her bayonet, and a hard leather pocket for her pocket watch. And her pants, they stayed in the closet; Witches don't wear pants after all.

After a quick breakfast, Wolf made her way to the runway where the Major and Dick were waiting impatiently, even though this was the exact time they had said to meet the trainees there.

"So what are we doing today, sirs?" Wolf asked, rubbing he hands together. She had asked the same question everyday, and received the same response every time: a blank look and Dick saying she would be told when the others arrived.

"Today we are doing some combat simulations," the Major announced once everyone else had arrived, Perrine being last and Wolf making a mental note to give her a hard time about it later. "Wolf, Perrine, Lucchini, you will be against Miyafuji, Lynette and myself. Commander Yeager will be refereeing."

"Yessir," they replied in unison, and then went to the weapons rack, where Wolf replaced her Colt .45 with the training version, grabbed her Garand, and the satchel of dummy grenades she had to carry. It had been Dick's idea that since she only had an infantryman's rifle, rather than a machinegun or anti tank gun like the others, she should also carry some stick grenades so that she had a bit more firepower.

Wolf was first in the air, even though her Striker was the furthest form the weapons rack, because of its design. She didn't know why, but the Recon Strikers seemed to be able to take off quicker than the other ones designed more specifically for combat.

Once they arrived at the engagement area, a five mile cubed area above a forest, the teams split off, Major Sakamoto taking the lead for her team, and Perrine taking the lead for her own.

"Here," Wolf said, handing a stick grenade to each of her teammates once they arrived at the border of the engagement area far out of sight of the other team, awaiting Dick's signal to begin, "If we can distract them we might be able to get one with a grenade."

Unlike Perrine, who had just taken the grenade wordlessly and tucked it into her shirt, too proud to say it was a good idea; Lucchini stared at the grenade as if it would bite her, and then reluctantly accepted it after a look from Perrine.

Perrine cleared her throat, "what we need to do is engage the Major and Miyafuji at long range and Lynette at close range, if possible, to catch them out of their element, and make sure the Major or Miyafuji don't come around behind and take us by surprise. Wolf, it'll be your job to watch our six."

"That's a no go, boss," Wolf told her, "winds are carrying their scent to us now, so if they come in from behind, I won't smell 'em. I can only tack them if they are up wind of us, and by sound they will be too close anyway. And we could try catching them in their element; engage Lynette at long range and Major Sakamoto and Miyafuji at close range."

Perrine shook her head, "If you have a point, please get to it."

"Elaborate? Okay, we all know how each other fights, more or less, because we have watched and trained with each other. I have the least knowledge, but I still know a fair bit. Now Lynette is going to be doing everything in her power to stay in long range combat, possibly willing to get into medium range combat before falling back, and the Major and Miyafuji will be doing everything in their power to get in close and/or behind. And they know that I can track others movements better than anyone else save for the Commander and Sanya. What is the last thing they would expect us to do?"

"Play to their strengths and have you lead the charge," Perrine mused, rubbing her chin thoughtfully, "meaning we can catch them by surprise."

Wolf clicked her fingers, "Exactly."

"Not a bad plan, mongrel," Perrine said arrogantly, "but who does what? It's not like any of us are a match for them at any of their skills."

"Well, surrender monkey, you and Lucchini take the Major and Miyafuji, and I'll take Lynette. If worst comes to worst you can always get in real close, grab hold of them as tight as you can and pull the pin of the grenade I gave you."

"I know you're only joking," Perrine said, glancing at the daydreaming Lucchini, "at least I hope you are, but you have a point about the grenades. Lucchini…" Lucchini jumped as if startled and turned to Perrine, "… If you get the chance, slip your grenade into their shirt and pull the pin. You have always been good a sneaking a feel, shouldn't be too hard to do it in mid air."

Lucchini grinned, "It is my specialty."

"Begin," Dick said over the communicator after another couple of minutes.

The Witches rocketed forward, Wolf sniffing the air to try and figure our which way Lynette went. All three of them were staying together, and moving forward. Suddenly, Lynette's scent stopped growing as strong as the other two's and Miyafuji and Major Sakamoto's scent started to come form different directions.

"Lynette's stopped and the other two have split off to catch us in a pincer," Wolf told Perrine and Lucchini, "Break left."

They followed the instruction and broke off to the left, dodging a couple of rounds from Lynette's rifle. Didn't matter how much the trio irritated each other, they knew what each of their strengths were and listened to their comrades advice accordingly. They never questioned Wolf's sense of smell or hearing for one, and neither Wolf nor Lucchini denied that Perrine was a better leader then both of them.

"Miyafuji and the Major will be on us in seconds," Wolf told them, bringing her rifle up and getting Lynette, who was only just coming into view, in her sights.

"Ready, Lucchini?" Perrine asked.

"Ready," the Romagnan confirmed.

"Now!" Perrine shouted just as Miyafuji and the Major opened fire from the side.

While Perrine and Lucchini occupied Miyafuji and Major Sakamoto, Wolf went after Lynette. As predicted, Lynette kept retreating in order to maintain a comfortable distance between her and Wolf, and Wolf used this to full advantage. Since the other Britannian couldn't shoot as well when moving, Wolf forced her to keep moving, using her superior agility to dodge the few shots that did come her way. Suddenly Lynette stopped and brought up her shields just as Wolf unleashed another salvo from her Garand, only narrowly did Wolf dodge the rounds that flew her way. This was not part of the plan, which had been to take her out at a distance, time to improvise.

Wolf grabbed a grenade form her satchel and threw it high overhead, then began circling Lynette and throwing more grenades until she only had one left and firing her Garand to force Lynette to keep her shields directed at Wolf, who had done a half circle around the girl. The whole time, Lynette had stayed in one spot and forgotten about the first grenade, that had been thrown high rather then ditched like the others. The inside of Lynette's shield went orange as the grenade went off, leaving a silhouette of Lynette until she lowered the shield.

"Lynette's out," Dick said over the communicator.

"I'm coming to help," Wolf told her comrades.

"Hurry up!" Lucchini screamed in response, "Miyafuji's on my tail and I can't shake her!"

Wolf didn't waste any time going back to the others, and going around behind Miyafuji. After a couple of minutes of chasing Miyafuji, the Fuso girl broke off from Lucchini and went to where Lynette had been. Wolf stayed on her tail, not willing to give an inch. The Britannian's ears twitched and she dodged to the side to avoid the Major's machinegun fire. _So that's their game, catch me from downwind. But where the hell is Perrine? She was meant to be handling the Major!_

Wolf broke off from Miyafuji and loosed her final grenade to distract the Major so that she could make a clean get away. It didn't work; the Major was still close behind. Perrine and Lucchini were coming up from behind the Major. "Forget it," Wolf told them, "Go after Miyafuji, I can out run the Major." _She'll be out of ammo soon enough anyway_. One thing Wolf had noticed, the Witches with heavier machineguns never carried spare magazines.

Perrine and Lucchini broke away and dogged Miyafuji, leaving the Major to Wolf. Wolf dodged around Major Sakamoto's machinegun fire with ease. Even though the Major was downwind and behind the Britannian, Wolf's ears worked just as well as her nose, so she heard the machinegun firing before the bullets arrived. The speed of sound is faster than the speed of large calibre bullets after all. Soon enough, the Major was out of ammo and had drawn her sword, now was the time to strike. Wolf held her Garand in one hand and drew her Colt .45 with the other, and fired blindly behind herself at the major, who dodged the wildly flying rounds with ease, as was expected. Wolf slipped her rifle, which was empty, over her shoulder and reloaded her sidearm, then drew her bayonet and turned to face the major.

"Lucchini's out," Dick said. Neither Wolf nor Sakamoto turned to see what was going on.

The Major stopped for a second, and the pair stared at the other, eye to eyes, and then charged. They clashed, sparks flying from the heavy impact of their blades, neither was using a blunt training weapon. They parried and countered, until Wolf saw her window. Major Sakamoto brought her sword up to swing it at Wolf's head, and Wolf brought her handgun up and shot the Major in the stomach as their melee weapons were locked, Wolf blocking the Major's strike. "Gotcha."

The major smiled proudly and put her sword away, "Well done."

"Thank you, Ma'am," Wolf said, also smiling, "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go gun down your countryman." Wolf sniffed the air once and flew in the direction of Perrine and Miyafuji, who were upwind. "Gimme a sitrep," Wolf told Perrine. She had spent some time learning all the military jargon.

"Miyafuji's sticking to me like a bad smell, she's nearly got me."

"Hold on, I'll be there in ten seconds!"

Wolf reloaded her rifle on the way, and just before Miyafuji was in range, Perrine got hit.

"Perrine's out," Dick said.

Wolf fired and missed, "Dammit!"

Miyafuji darted to the left, Wolf struggled to keep pace. Man, could that girl dodge and weave. After forty five seconds of toying with Wolf, Miyafuji was suddenly not there anymore, one second she had been in front, the next…? She had just disappeared. All of a sudden, Miyafuji appeared from behind Wolf and fired. Having been up wind of Miyafuji and not being able to hear over her own fully powered Striker on top of being too close to dodge, Wolf had had little to no waring as to the approaching girl, and was now doted with orange paint.

"Wolf's out," Dick said, "Sakamoto, Miyafuji and Lynette win."

Everyone flew back to Dick, who was seated in the back of a jeep with his feet up and a pair of binoculars around his neck.

"So how'd we do?" the Major asked.

Dick lit a cigarette, "I'll be blunt, Lynette, you weren't focused enough, Perrine, stop being so conservative with you bullets, Wolf, too reckless and too liberal with your grenades, Lucchini, too predictable, Miyafuji, waited till your teammates were down till you unleashed hell, you should always unleash hell as soon as possible, and Sakamoto, falling for that trick with the handgun," Dick shook his head, "Honestly, I'm disappointed. Consider yourselves lucky I ain't your CO or you'd all have latrine duty for such a poor performance."

The Witches exchanged proud smiles; this was their best report yet! Dick was a tough critic, and always focussed on the bad.

"Let's-" Dick was cut off by the air raid siren.

The major immediately began issuing orders, "Everyone back to base now. Lynette and myself will go back out, everyone else stays behind."

"Roger," Wolf knew better than to protest. She wanted to go fight Neuroi, but the Major's orders were final.

000

It had been over two weeks since the last Neuroi attack, and everybody was on edge, though that wasn't the reason training had been cancelled. Training had cancelled due to the weather. Outside, the wind howled as a storm blew in from the channel.

Wolf was in the dining room with most of the others Witches who also had little else to do with their time. Eila was telling fortunes. Yoshika and Lynette were cooking. Barkhorn and Shirley were trying to out-eat each other. Sanya was asleep, her head on the table. Hartmann asleep next to the Orussian. Really, Wolf was the only person doing anything productive with her time: sit ups and push ups.

"… Ninety eight… ninety nine… one hundred." Wolf turned over and began doing push ups. "One… two… three… four…"

"How many more sets are you going to do?" Shirley complained, "You must have done at least fifty by now."

"Forty seven," Wolf corrected, "… nine… ten…"

Commander Wilcke walked in, holding a bunch of envelopes, and started handing one to each of the others, and finally to Wolf.

"What's this?" Wolf asked as she sat on the ground cross-legged, turning the envelope in her hands.

"Your pay," the Commander said with a smile, Wolf had noticed that she often smiled.

Wolf wasted no time tearing the envelope apart to get to the money that lay within. It was really exiting; she had never been paid before. The envelope contained £10. "Jesus fucking Christ!" Wolf yelled, _I've never even seen so much money!_

Commander Wilcke kept her smile on but raised her eyebrow angrily.

"Um… sorry, ma'am" Wolf apologised, quickly stuffing the money into her inside jacket pocket, "It's just more money than I've ever seen, is all."

"Just don't let it happen again, okay?"

Wolf snapped to attention and saluted, "Yes, ma'am."

"I thought I told you not to do that," Commander Wilcke said disapprovingly.

Wolf grinned but said seriously, "I don't recall that being an order, ma'am."

Commander Wilcke shook her head and walked off.

Rain started to tap the window's glass.

Wolf turned to Lynette, "Hey, Lynne, you know the area better than anyone, where's the closest pub?"

"Why do you want to know where the closest pub is?"

"That's a silly question. It's payday, from what I hear, payday's that day you're supposed go to the pub. C'mon, first rounds on me."

"I don't think you'll be allowed to go," Lynette said with a shake of her head.

"Aw, don't be like that, we'll get drunk, play bar games," Wolf put out her ears and tail, bashed her fist into her palm and grinned wolfishly for dramatic effect, "get into a bar fight."

Wolf sniffed at the air a couple of times, something wasn't right, the air smelt… strange.

"What is it?" Shirley asked, seeing the sudden change in Wolf's expression, "what's wrong?"

"The air smells different," she told the Liberian, "sort of like... like a mix of copper, and burning metal and… what's that gas stuff you were working with the other day?"

"Ozone?"

"Yeah, that's it. I've never smelt it here before, what is it?"

"A Neuroi," Sanya said without opening her eyes, here ears, tail and antenna things popping out.

The rain grew heavier and beat on the window like a drum.

"Are you sure?" Gertrude said, getting up quickly; ready to run to the hanger.

The air raid sirens went off and every one ran to the hanger, where Major Sakamoto was already in her Striker. She began issuing orders immediately, "Sanya, Eila, Wolf, you're with me and the Commander. Everyone else, stay here, visibility is too low for you to be any help at the moment."

Wolf wasted no time getting her rifle bandolier and grenade satchel, then jumping into her Recon Striker, and pulling on a pair of goggles like the ones that Shirley wears.

"There are two of them," Sanya said after they had all taken off and regrouped, having to nearly shout to be heard over the storm, "two high speed models. Both going to London from different directions. One from coming for the Paris region, the other… Brussels."

"We need to split up," the Major said, "Sanya, Eila and Wolf will take the Brussels one. The Commander and I will take the Paris one."

"Yessir!"

Sanya, Eila and Wolf split off from the Commander and Major in pursuit of the Brussels Neuroi. It took fifteen minutes of struggling through the storm, each mile, the scent of copper, burning metal, and ozone growing stronger till the Neuroi was in weapons range, for Sanya anyway. And just sitting in one spot in the middle of the channel. _Easy target_.

Just before they got into weapons range for Wolf and Eila, Eila told them to stop.

"What is it?" Wolf asked impatiently. The Neuroi was just sitting there, not even moving! What possible reason could there be to stop?

"This doesn't feel right," Eila said worriedly, then her eyes widened, and she pushed both Sanya and Wolf down just before a red beam streaked where they had been hovering.

Eila pushed them to the left as a red beam streaked through where they had been hovering after dodging the first.

"Jesus Christ," Wolf muttered under her breath, "Thanks for that Eila."

Eila smiled at Wolf as she grabbed her collar and pulled her up and over another beam, "Don't mention it." It was the first time Eila had smiled at, or even around Wolf.

Sanya fired a single rocket before Eila pulled her and Wolf out of the path of another beam. The Neuroi just took off after that, heading for the base, unconcerned that the Witches were between it and the base. Sanya fired another rocket and the Neuroi destroyed it with a beam as it streaked rapidly towards them.

"Lemme go," Wolf told Eila as the Suomusian fired at the oncoming enemy, "I gotta plan."

"What-"

"No time to ask, just let go. No, actually, hold on, hold on for dear life."

Eila looked confused for a moment, and then recognition dawned on her. "I see. No, too dangerous," she said with a shake of her head.

Wolf grinned at her, "I wasn't asking."

The Neuroi hurdled towards them. Wolf drew her bayonet. The Neuroi tried to run straight through them. Wolf stuck her bayonet into the side of the behemoth and both Sanya and Eila got dragged along with her.

"Now what?" Sanya asked, looking very uncomfortable with the situation.

"Now that we've harpooned the great whale, we find its heart and rip it out!"

The red panel Wolf had stuck the knife into began to glow. "Aw shit!" Wolf pulled the knife out and fell away form the red plate, and stuck the knife into a black plate. Sanya and Eila were gone though. "Sanya, Eila!" Wolf shouted into her communicator.

"We're fine," Eila said after a moment, "we fell off, but we're fine. Are you okay?"

"I'm fighting a thousand ton behemoth all on my own, at god knows what god awful speed. And it's during a storm. Yeah, I'm just dandy. Bloody call the base and tell them this's FUBAR!"

"I've already done that," Eila replied, frustrated by the question, "Shirley and Lucchini are on their way."

Wolf grimaced, as much as she liked Shirley, the two krauts would have been a better choice. _I'd best try and find the core_.

Wolf began to use her bayonet to climb to the top of the beast, and just started carving holes into the Neuroi with her rifle and placing grenades in the holes before they sealed up, hoping to cause some internal damage, maybe slow it down if she was lucky. Her Garand ran out of ammo and after bashing at the hull of the black and red craft for a moment, Wolf remembered she had the .45 automatic and used that to create a small hole, just big enough to fit the rifle into, and stuck the empty weapon within, hoping to cause whatever trouble she could. _I'm not bloody getting anywhere!_

After making her way a little further along the hull, Shirley and Lucchini arrived, somehow managing to keep pace with the beast and still dodging and reflecting its beams.

"Hold on," Shirley said, "we'll get you off of that thing."

"Screw that," Wolf shouted at them, "Where the hell is this thing's core!"

"What? Are you insane? You'll be killed!"

"Do you see this thing firing at me?" Wolf growled, "Now tell me where the hell its core is!"

"It's in the front, near the nose," Lucchini said.

"Thank you." Wolf began to make her way to the front of the Neuroi. Not much ammo remained for her sidearm and she only had one grenade left. _This had better work_.

"You're right on top of it, now," Shirley said.

Wolf was nearly at the very front of the behemoth, about seven feet from the tip of the nose. She fired at her feet until she was completely out of ammo, the grenade only half fit in, _not good enough_. She started hacking with the bayonet, slowly making the hole deeper. Rain pelted her face, and Wolf was thankful to have brought the goggles.

"You'd better hurry," Shirley warned, Wolf couldn't see them anymore, must have fallen behind, "It'll be on the base in two minutes."

"I'm working on it," Wolf snarled. She kept working with her bayonet, slowly making progress, very slowly.

"One minute," Shirley said.

"I'm nearly there, God dammit! Get off my back!"

The bayonet burst into the small cavern that held the core, its pulsing glow only describable as alien. Wolf dropped her last grenade into the hole, and jumped off the Neuroi. It fired upon her almost as soon as she was off the surface, destroying one strikers, searing off half her hair, and burning part of her face. She couldn't see out her right eye and she was tumbling to the ocean, fast. The grenade went off, destroying the nose and core, then the rest of the Neuroi along with it.

Wolf tried to regain some control as she hurdled toward the quickly approaching ocean, with no luck. Wolf let her remaining Striker fall from her leg, she couldn't swim very well to begin with and with the storm, the flying machine would be dead weight and just hasten her death.

Shirley swooped in and caught her, saying frantically, "Wolf, Wolf hold on, I'll get you the hospital soon, alright?"

Wolf began to shiver, and not because of the cold or the rain though. She looked down at her leg where the Neuroi had shot off the Striker, she was bleeding badly, and she could see bare bone. "Well," Wolf grunted, it hurt to talk, "That was… a cluster… fuck and a half… wasn't it?"

"Don't talk," Shirley said with a reassuringly smile, "save your energy."

Wolf coughed and then cringed at the pain, "You worry… too much Y… Yankee. I've been hurt… worse than this."

Shirley's smile changed to worried for just a moment, but it was enough for Wolf to know that the Liberian was very, very worried. _My condition isn't that bad. Is it?_

Wolf smiled, or tried to anyway, "So… we still going… to the pub… later?"

"Don't talk; I'll get you to Yoshika."


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Generic statement about not owning Strike Witches

* * *

4. Family

Wolf awoke with a start. She was in a hospital bed again, and naked, again, and feeling hung-over, just like the last time. Unlike last time, it was night, probably around midnight, and Shirley was asleep on the bench. Wolf tried to recall why she was in hospital, but couldn't. Something had happened, something incredible or important, she could recall that much. _Oh, and getting paid and asking Lynette where the pub was, did I get in a brawl maybe?_

She sat up and grunted as she felt a jarring pain in her right leg. Wolf pulled back the covers to reveal her leg wrapped in bandages. _What had happened?_ She wondered and rubbed the top of her head, which had been shaved. _I hope they don't change my hairstyle every time I end up here_. Last time she was here, her clothes were in the drawer, so she checked there, and sure enough, they were there. She quickly got dressed but accidently woke Shirley, who was not happy.

"What the hell are you doing up?" she shouted harshly, "You should be in bed!"

Wolf shook her head, then tapped her bandaged leg, "Aside from this and a mild hangover, I'm fine. What happened anyway, I remember wanting to go to the pub," Wolf grinned, "did I get beat up or something?"

"You don't remember?" Shirley asked incredulously.

Wolf shook her head, "No, how much did I have to drink?"

Shirley sat down and laced her fingers, "We didn't go to the pub, there was an attack. You were pretty badly injured."

"You mean I was actually got to sortie, and I can't even remember it?" Wolf looked at her bandaged leg, "I mustn't have been hurt that bad since I only got bandaged up. And did my head really have to be shaved?" Wolf sat down and rubbed he hand over her head, "I was beginning to like my new do."

Shirley went to open her mouth but Wolf held up her hand, it was beginning to come back. The Injuries she had received were anyway.

"I got really banged up, hey?" Wolf said glumly, "Did anyone else get hurt?"

Shirley threw back her head and laughed "No one else is stupid enough to put themselves in a position to be injured so much. Do you even remember how you got so injured?"

Wolf strained her memory; she managed to dredge up parts of what happened. There were two Neuroi, and Sanya, Eila, Shirley and Lucchini had been involved somehow, perhaps Wolf had been fighting with them? No, Sanya and Eila first, then Shirley and Lucchini. And she had… tackled a Neuroi? No, that didn't seem right, latched on? No. She had used all her bullets and grenades, that much was for certain. "I can remember some bits, sort of. What happened?"

"You smelt the Neuroi, then you, the Major, the Commander, Sanya and Eila sortied and everyone else stayed behind because of the low visibility. From there-"

"I don't mean to be rude, but this sounds like the long version, can I get the short version?"

Shirley gave Wolf and angry look, "Fine, the short version is that you decided to go all Captain Ahab on the Neuroi, killed it, nearly died, and was rescued by yours truly. Once I got you back here, Yoshika started healing as soon as I set you down and only stopped yesterday. She used all her energy trying to fix you up for two days straight. The Major had to order her to sto-"

"I was out that long?"

"Don't interrupt. Like I was saying. Yoshika was healing you, and then you woke up just now. Now you can ask your questions."

"Is Yoshika in her room now? I want to thank her."

"She'll be upset if you don't get back in bed. C'mon, to bed now. I'll leave you be." Shirley got up and went for the door.

000

Once Shirley was out the room, she leaned against the door and let out a breath she hadn't realised she had been holding. Wolf's face had a couple of pretty gruesome looking scars, and she hadn't felt a thing! Not to mention her eyes. Golden, like her namesake. _I wonder if they're a bit like the Major's?_

There was no time to think about this however, as Shirley had orders to follow.

The Liberian went straight to the Commander's room, opened the door, and rapped on it to wake the Karlslander.

"Do you realise what the time is?" Minna asked tiredly as she rubbed her face.

"Well, no, ma'am. But you ordered me to get you when Wolf wakes."

That sobered the Commander up immediately, her face becoming iron. "Is she still awake?"

Shirley shook her head, "No, ma'am, I ordered her back to bed."

Minna leaned forward and rested her chin on her clenched hands, "That's probably for the best. How was she?"

"Pretty good, considering her ordeal, some slight memory loss, but it seems to be returning. However, the only injuries she claimed to notice were her leg, which she had said was 'sore', and a slight hang-over. And well…" _How do I put this?_

"What is it?" Minna sounded quite concerned.

"Well… uh, her eyes were different, golden, luminous even." The Liberian shrugged and shook her head, "I don't know how else to put it."

"It's nothing to worry about," Minna said, waving her hand dismissively, "it's normal for Witches like her to do that."

"What do you mean?"

Minna lay back down, "Get some sleep, Shirley."

Shirley grimaced, and then left. _What's going on?_

000

Wolf was sleeping quite soundly when someone began trying to rouse her from the luxurious slumber. She tried to shoo them away and put her head under the pillow, but the other person persisted.

With a snarl, Wolf slowly sat up in bed and glared at Lynne, who was holding a tray of food.

The other Britannian jumped back in shock, and took a moment to regain her senses, "The… Commander Minna ordered me to bring you some breakfast and wake you."

Wolf sat up, rubbed her eyes tiredly, and said sarcastically, "Wasn't that nice of her." She proceeded to stretch her arms, "Just leave it on the night stand, I'll probably eat it when I get back. I'm going for a walk."

Lynne was looking at her strangely.

"What is it?"

"Your eyes," Lynne said reluctantly, as if it had been dragged from her, "They're… golden."

Wolf laughed, "Have you been hit on the head recently, that's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. Okay, maybe not the most ridiculous, but it comes close, besides, my eyes are green."

"No they're not," Lynne said with a shake of her head, then looked around the room. "There aren't any mirrors in here," she noted.

Wolf looked around the room, Lynne was right, there weren't any mirrors. "Do you think you could get me one, please?"

"Sure thing." Lynne walked off with a smile in search of a mirror and Wolf got out of bed. She had slept in her clothes because she hadn't been bothered undressing the previous night, but her clothes didn't seem that wrinkled. Her leg still hurt – and caused her to limp a little – though not as much as last night and she went to leave the room to walk around the base for a bit. It was more than likely that she would be confined to that bed for a couple more days and what little exercise she would be able to get would be good for her, especially if it gets rid of her limp.

Just before she got out the door however, she was stopped by Commander Wilcke.

Wolf snapped to attention and saluted, "Morning, ma'am."

The Commander shook her head and walked into the room, motioning for Wolf to follow. Commander Wilcke then motioned for Wolf to take a seat on the bed as she herself sat on the bench by the wall. The Karlslander had the air of a person delivering a death notice. "What is it, ma'am?"

Commander Wilcke took a deep breath and looked Wolf straight in the eyes, "It's about your parents…"

"I'll stop you right there, ma'am," Wolf interrupted, "I know shit all about my parents, aside from one of them serving Karlsland at some stage," Wolf took her pocket watch out of it's leather pouch, opening it to reveal the engraved Iron Cross.

"No, I didn't want to ask you anything, I want to tell you."

"Tell me what, that you knew them?" Wolf joked, "And that they were really wonderful people that were murdered shortly after I was born. Or that they were in fact hardened criminals and I was stolen from them? Honestly, I don't care what happened to those two arse holes-"

Wolf was cut off by a slap from the Commander, "Don't you ever talk about them that way! Ever! They were heroes!" Commander Wilcke visibly calmed herself, then told Wolf about her parents in a more sombre tone, "Your father's name was WolfgangKaufmann, he was in the _Luftwaffe_, I fought alongside him many times, he was a good man. Your mother's name was CarolineMeier, a rifleman and later a medic, patched me up a couple of times during training. And was, and I hate to say it, and artist with an MP40, honestly, I've never seen someone with such a kill record as herself. They were only young when you were born, and they could see the powder keg that Europe had become and had no way to look after you themselves, so they sent you to be raised by his parents here in Britannia. Both of them died when Berlin fell."

Wolf had her elbows on her knees and her chin on her hands. She asked quietly, staring straight forward instead of at the Commander, "Was my mother a Witch?"

"No, she was a magic user, a lot like you. No, exactly like you, same ears and all, and the Golden Wolf's eyes. She decided her abilities would be better put to use healing people rather then killing them, though she ended up doing a lot of that in the Hispanian Civil War."

"She can't have been that much like me, since you claim she was a healer," Wolf told the CO quietly with a shake of her head.

"You two are more alike than you could know. She was just as reckless as you, more than happy to do what was needed to save lives, even at the expense of her own. Your father was the same. Probably how they met now that I think about it."

Wolf sighed, "You make them sound fantastic."

"They were."

Wolf stared straight into Commander Minna's eyes and said angrily, "Then how come they never looked for me?"

"Don't you think they tried?" the Commander said, almost pleading, "They tried after they heard your grandparents had died, but you had already run away from the orphanage that you'd been sent to."

"They could have tried harder," Wolf sobbed. _Why am I crying, I didn't even know these people! Why do I even care?_

"Where are you going?" the Commander asked as Wolf got up and went to walk out the room.

Wolf wiped the tears from her eyes and answered without looking at the Commander, "For a walk, I need some air."

The Britannian wandered for maybe two hours before she found herself in the hanger. Shirley was working on her Striker, not paying attention to anything around her: Lucchini was sleeping, equally oblivious as Shirley; and oddly enough, Dick was leaning on one of the spare Strikers with a lit cigarette hanging out the corner of his mouth and his cap pulled over his eyes. Wolf walked over, took the cigarette out his mouth and stuck it in her own.

"I thought you didn't smoke?" Dick said as he pulled his cap up with his thumb and Wolf took a long drag from the cigarette.

"I don't," she said after coughing hoarsely and taking a seat on the ground next to him.

"Why the melancholy face?" he asked nonchalantly.

"Commander Minna just told me about my parents," tears began to well up in her eyes again and Wolf wiped them away, "I don't even know why I'm crying, I didn't even know them. Why do I even care?"

Dick slapped his cap onto Wolf's head, "You care because they were your parents, and no matter what happened, you still love them because they're your parents."

"Do you even know what happened?" Wolf demanded, tears streaming down her face.

He laughed and stood up, "Not a clue. It can't be that bad though, the Commander knew 'em, and she doesn't associate with disreputable people, so there must be reasons for whatever they did." He took his cap back and lit another cigarette, leaving his other in Wolf's hands, "Get up, I got some bad news and good news for you."

Wolf wiped the tears from her eyes and stood up, taking another drag of the cigarette and coughing once more, "Why don't you gimme the bad news first, I doubt my day could get much worse."

"You're not flying for the next two months."

"What? My injuries aren't that bad!"

Dick raised an eyebrow, "have you looked in a mirror lately, I'm still deciding whether to call you Golden Eyes or Scar Face…"

"What do you mean Scar Face? I have scars all over my face?"

He nodded, "Yup, looks like they hurt too. Anyway, That has nothing to do with it, your Strikers were destroyed, we only had one pair, and they're bloody expensive. It will be another couple of months till we can get another sent in from Karlsland. Which leads me to the Good news…" He just stopped, as if expecting Wolf to stay something.

Wolf waved her Cigarette in Dick's face and placed a fist on her hip, "I don't have all day you know?"

"Actually you do, as of yesterday; you were handed to my command."

Wolf nodded, "Got it; you say 'jump', I say 'how high?' You say 'kiss Perrine', I ask 'on the cheek or down the throat?'"

"Why would I ask you to Kiss Perrine?"

Wolf shrugged and stuck the cigarette in her mouth, "Dunno, maybe you're feeling spiteful and want to see Perrine trying to beat the shit out of me?" She then coughed hoarsely again.

"Back to the good news, you're under my command now, and this is because I think you need some training with a new rifle, more specifically an automatic rifle. Follow me." Dick lead Wolf to the weapons rack and talked the whole way, "You see, I've been looking for an automatic weapon for you for the past couple of months, and I finally found one that I think you can handle…" he picked an odd looking rifle off the wall and handed it to Wolf, "…Allow me to present the _Fallschirmjägergewehr_ 42, or FG 42 for short."

The rifle had the magazine mounted on the side and a pistol grip, but it also had a sniper scope on top.

"Looks more like a sniper then an MG."

"It's neither. The name literally translates to Paratrooper rifle. An automatic weapon, that's light weight but accurate enough to have a long range sight added. I think you will be hard pressed to find a weapon that suits you better." Dick seemed very pleased with himself.

As evening approached, and after a day's familiarising herself with the new FG 42, Wolf went straight to the bath, everyone else would be eating dinner now, so she would have it to herself, or so she thought. She was greeted by the Commander. "Hello, Wolf. Enjoy our little walk did we?" Commander Minna sounded annoyed for some reason.

"I did actually," Wolf told her as she began to disrobe, pretending not to care that the Commander was there.

"We never finished our talk."

Wolf wrapped a towel around herself, "if it's all the same to you, I'd rather not hear the rest."

"Fine," Commander Minna conceded, "But we will finish it another time."

"Is that an order?" Wolf grumbled.

"Yes."

After her bath, Wolf went to the dining room, where only Yoshika, Lynne, Hartmann and Lucchini remained; Yoshika and Lynne cleaning up, Hartmann still eating, and Lucchini was asleep. None of them conscious ones seemed surprised to see her.

Wolf walked up to Yoshika, "Listen, I owe you one."

"One what?" Yoshika asked as she scrubbed her big pot.

"A favour," Wolf said flatly, "You saved my life."

"Oh, that's not necessary," Yoshika said awkwardly, waving her hands, "I just did what anyone would have."

Wolf shook her head, "Doesn't matter, you are still responsible for me being alive now. If you ever need anything, don't hesitate to ask, and I mean anything; I intend to leave this earth debt free." Wolf went to leave to look for Shirley and Eila to give them the same message she had given Yoshika, when her grumbling stomach reminded her why she was here in the first place. "Don't suppose there's any food left?"

"Here," Lynne said as she walked up with a bowl of rice, "this is all that's left."

"Thanks," Wolf said as she accepted the food, "oh, and you never did get to telling me where that pub was…"

"Well…"

"It's alright, I'm sure I can arrange time off for all of us. I'll even pay for the first round."

"Alright, alright, I'll take you next weekend if you can manage to get the time off."

Wolf put her hand on Lynne's shoulder, "You're the best."

After her quick meal, Wolf hunted down Shirley and Eila. She needed to inform them of the favour she owed them as well.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: at this point, I doubt it's still neccissary to say that I don't won Strike Witches

* * *

5. Complications

Wolf had managed to convince Dick to let her have the weekend off and convinced Commander Wilcke to let the others have the weekend off too. Most of them had accepted Wolf's invitation to the pub; Trude, Major Sakamoto and Commander Wilcke were the only ones to decline. Perrine had declined at first too, but Wolf had brought her around.

"Here we are," Lynne said as the car stopped, "_The Generals Dive_. My brothers go here sometimes."

"How'd it get the name?" Wolf asked, it did not look like a place a General would visit, more like a place he's go out of his way to avoid.

"I don't know," Lynne admitted as the others parked behind them.

"C'mon," Wolf said as she took the lead and walked to the pub, "let's go have some fun."

The inside of the establishment was filled with smoke and a number of depressed looking men nursing mugs of lager, there was also a pool table and a darts board. At least the bar was kind of clean compared to the rest of the place. _What sort of brothers does Lynne have?_

Wolf walked up to the burly bartender with some impressive chops, "Evening, could I open a tab?"

"Sure," he said gruffly as he cleaned out a mug with a rag, "I need a name though."

"Wolf."

"A full name. And perhaps a real one, too."

"That is my name," Wolf said patiently, she would have given him a piece of her mind but she didn't want the drinks watered down, "WolfKaufmann."

"Ah, a Karlslander. Been in Britannia long?"

That gave Wolf an idea, she leaned closer to the bartender, "listen, see those people milling about over there?" she waved her hand at the other Witches, "there's more Karlslanders and a Liberion in that lot too, and they're know for their drinking. You give me a little discount and I'll be more inclined to buy more drinks for them."

The bartender laughed, "Nice try kiddo, but no. You pay the same as everyone else."

Wolf grimaced and went back to the other Witches, "I opened a tab, so ask for whatever you want and put it on WolfKaufmann. First round is on me, but keep track of all your drinks thereafter, you can give me the money latter. Except for Yoshika, Eila and Shirley; they drink free."

The Witches dispersed and after some time, Wolf found herself playing pool with a now very friendly and talkative Perrine. The Gallian had taken a real liking to lager. "… I be as friendly and polite as I possible can," Perrine muttered as she tried to line up a shot, "but still, the others make fun of me. Why is that? I go out of my way to be nice and they be mean."

"You just need to relax a little more," Wolf said, leaning on her pool cue, "people don't like being told that they're doing something wrong-"

"But how else will they know that they need to improve their etiquette if someone doesn't tell them?"

Wolf lined up her own shot and glanced at Lynne and Yoshika, they were talking to some men, but it seemed innocent enough. Wolf returned to her conversation with Perrine, "Maybe they don't want to improve their etiquette? How would you like it if someone was hounding you all the time?"

Perrine's eyes widened angrily, "What? Th-that's just…" Perrine slumped on her pool cue, "You're right…"

Wolf glanced back at Lynne and Yoshika, where the men seemed to be getting rowdier. One of them started stroking Lynne's shoulder and she brushed him off, and then he grabbed her. "Hold that thought, Perrine, this is about to get fun."

"What are…?" Perrine started as Wolf walked over to Lynne, Yoshika and the men.

"Get off her!" Wolf growled as she pushed the man away and stepped between the man and her comrades.

"This isn't any of you business," the man who had grabbed Lynne slurred before trying to push Wolf out of the way.

Wolf grinned, this is what she had been waiting for. She grabbed his wrist, twisted it, and threw him to the ground. His friends got angry and lunged at Wolf. She threw the first of them into the bar, and smashed a bottle over the head of the next. The third one hesitated just long enough for Wolf to kick him onto a table of soldiers having drinks. In no short time, the pub was a battlefield.

"Isn't this fun?" Wolf yelled as she hauled the last of her comrades, Francesca, over the bar to keep them from the fighting.

"Fun?" Shirley exclaimed, "This is chaos!"

"I know," Wolf said with a smile before jumping back over to rejoin the fight. People seemed to be coming in off the street to join in. _Shouldn't be long til the police show up_.

After hurting four more people, Wolf jumped back over to bar.

"I'll pay for this," she reassured the bartender, "Don't worry I'm good for it." She leaned back against the bar with all the other Witches staring at her, "Don't suppose one of you wants to hand me a drink, I'm starting to work up a thirst."

Eila pushed Perrine to the side before someone fell where the Gallian had been sitting.

"Where are the police?" Hartmann wondered aloud.

"You sure none of you want to join me?" Wolf offered, getting a bottle of brandy off the shelf and taking a quick, throat burning, swig, "There're still plenty of guys left to hurt. It's lots of fun."

Someone grabbed Wolf's shoulder and hauled her onto the counter. Wolf grabbed his head and threw him down to where the other Witches were, shouting, "Deal with this guy!"

Every one stopped at the sound of a single gunshot. They all looked to the source of the loud bang. Commander Wilcke, Major Sakamoto, and Lieutenant Barkhorn stood in the doorway, the Commander with her handgun aimed at the ceiling. Major Sakamoto had her sword drawn, and the Lieutenant simply had her fists up and ready for a fight. "The police will be here in one minute," Commander Wilcke announced, "I suggest you leave before they get here."

There was a mad rush for the door and about forty seconds later, the Witches, the bartender, and the unconscious were all that remained on the premises.

The Commander lowered and holstered her weapon. "Lieutenant, restrain Sergeant Wolf."

"Wait, what…?" Wolf began before Barkhorn twisted her arms, pinned her to the counter, and handcuffed her. "What the hell!"

"Consider yourself lucky," Barkhorn muttered just loud enough for Wolf to hear, "I'd have had you court marshalled."

000

Perrine awoke, her head pounding, clothes wrinkled, and mouth tasting of vomit. "What happened?" she wondered aloud as she got out of bed.

"Good morning," Yoshika chimed from the door.

"Argh, don't talk so loud," Perrine moaned, "My heads about to explode."

Yoshika giggled. _Does she find my pain funny?_ "Why you…" Perrine flinched at her own voice, "Argh, what happened to me?"

"You had a bit too much to drink," Yoshika said as she placed her hands on Perrine's head to begin healing the headache.

"I don't remember anything."

"That's probably for the best. Things got… embarrassing last night. All done."

"Thanks," Perrine muttered before pushing Yoshika away and beginning on her hair. "What happened last night?"

"Wolf wanted to take us to the pub, and most of us went. Me and Lynne were talking to some nice people who started getting pushy, then out of nowhere, Wolf threw them to the floor. After that, she pulled the rest of us over the counter and started beating people up. It was pretty bad until the Commander, Sakamoto, and Barkhorn showed up and arrested Wolf-"

"Wolf was arrested?" Perrine didn't know why that shocked her, but it did.

Yoshika nodded, "She's in the brig right now. I've never seen the Commander that upset before."

Perrine harrumphed, "I'm sure you're just exaggerating. Now get out so I can get dressed."

After getting dressed, Perrine went to the dining room.

"You feeling okay?" Shirley asked with a cheeky smile as Perrine sat down.

"Of course, why wouldn't I be?" Perrine answered with a sniff.

Francesca appeared in front of Perrine, "Because you were drunk as a skunk!"

Perrine sniffed and ignored them. _I'm going to kill Wolf._

000

Wolf paced up a down the cell, hands behind her back. When she had been taken in, her watch and bayonet had been confiscated. They bayonet she could understand, but the watch? She smelt Dick coming before she heard him, he had a very different odour to everyone else on the base. "Did you talk to the Commander?"

He looked at her and shook his head, "You really screwed to pooch. I did manage to get your sentence reduced to two and a half months. Only two months with good behaviour."

Wolf walked over to and slumped on her bed. "So my sentence has been reduced by two weeks, four with good behaviour? That's the best you could do?"

Dick pointed his cigarette at Wolf, "Don't be so bloody ungrateful. Considering that I ain't a lawyer and the Commander is more pissed than Major Sakamoto on a bad day, I think I did a pretty damn good job, even if I did have to pull rank when the Major protested."

"Don't s'pose I can get my watch back?"

Dick sat on the bench in front of Wolf's cell, "You know, Barkhorn and Eila were there too, oh, those two were angrier than anyone. I'm pretty sure Barkhorn wanted you shot. I think Eila did too."

That surprised Wolf; she had expected that sort of coldness from Barkhorn, but not Eila. "Why did Eila want me shot?"

Dick shrugged, "Something about putting everyone in unnecessary danger, especially Sanya."

Wolf sighed, "probably means both the Major and the Commander are going to come have a talk with me. Don't suppose you could leave a packet of cigarettes."

"I thought you didn't smoke," Dick said with a raised eyebrow.

"If they're both coming to talk at me, I'll be driven to it."

"Alrighty Golden Eyes," Dick said as he got up and fished both a lighter and a packet of cigarettes out of his pocket, "Just don't get caught with them, hmm? Hell if I'm going to have the Commander and Major breathing down my neck."

Wolf caught the package, "thanks."

Dick left, and as expected, the Major turned up a half hour later to have a 'chat'. It was the expected kind of stuff about discipline, being a role model, etcetera, etcetera. Wolf had turned off after the first ten minutes. After the Major finished her one hour rant, she left. Wolf expected the Commander to show up within the next hour, but she didn't. The only people to show up were Yoshika and Lynne bringing her meals. For five days they were the only people Wolf saw, until on the sixth day, the Commander finally showed up. And with a smile no less.

"Hello, Sergeant."

Wolf looked at her suspiciously, "Hello Commander."

"I guess you expect me to talk about what happened at the pub?"

Wolf looked her CO in the eyes and nodded.

"Well I'm not going to; I think the Major said everything that needed to be said about that." Commander Wilcke's smile disappeared and her face become stone, "I want to talk to you about your parents."

Wolf took out the cigarettes and lighter Dick had given her and lit one. This was her tenth since being imprisoned, but at least she didn't cough much anymore when she smoked.

Wolf had hoped that would rile the Commander, but it didn't, "Do you remember where we left off? About them trying to look for you? They looked for little over six months, but you were nowhere to be found. Once they returned to Karlsland, from there, they did their jobs, were soldiers. Every time they got leave they would look for you, at least until the Neuroi showed up. Then, they just stayed, didn't use their leave, just helped people when they could and fought the Neuroi."

"How do you know all this?"

"Like I told you before I fought alongside your father and mother. You were all they talked about most of the time-"

Wolf cut off the Commander after taking a long drag from her cigarette, "With all due respect, ma'am," she began calmly, tears beginning to well up in her eyes, "that's complete and utter bull-fucking-shit! No acts like that, absolutely fucking no one! I don't care if they were bloody angels that had fallen to earth, no one does that."

The look in the Commander's eyes was the only thing that betrayed her desire to slap Wolf, she knew that comment was out of line, but she didn't care.

"Did you know that your mother spent her dying breath asking me to find you? Just think about that," was all the commander said before departing.

Wolf stared after her, tears streaming down her face, expecting more, and then sat on her cot, she still had another nine weeks and one day in the brig.

000

After Wolf was released, everything went on as usual. She helped Yoshika and Lynne with the cooking and cleaning, got trained by Dick, talked with Shirley when they did maintenance on their Strikers, argued with Perrine, it was all as if nothing had ever happened.

One particular afternoon, while Wolf had just finished up her maintenance, the air raid sirens blared. Within seconds Shirley and Wolf were in their strikers, their weapons in hand. Seconds later the Major and Lynne arrived as well. They all took off and the Major began issuing orders, "300 metre class. Wolf, you cover Lynne while she snipes from the rear, Shirley, you're with me, we'll stay between the Neuroi and the other two. We need to keep it occupied until the others arrive. Remember, these types like to split up, so watch each other's back."

"Yes, ma'am," the all recited.

Wolf pulled the bolt back on her FG 42.

As expected, the Neuroi split into cubes once they got close. The Major and Shirley broke off and Wolf and Lynne stayed back and picked them off from a distance. "How long til reinforcement arrive?" Wolf shouted to the Major as she reloaded her FG 42. They had been fighting for nearly fifteen minutes and she was nearly out of ammo and was completely out of grenades.

"Five more minutes!" the Major called back.

Wolf heard Neuroi approaching from behind her and Lynne; she turned about and raised her rifle, firing just past Lynne's head, hitting all three of her targets. Loading her final magazine, Wolf shouted to Lynne, "Now we're even! I'm on my last magazine!"

"Major," Wolf heard Shirley saying, "we don't even seem to be making a dent."

"God dammit!" Wolf growled as she fired at some approaching Neuroi, missing all but one and now holding an empty rifle. She threw the rifle and pulled out her .45 and began taking out Neuroi cubes with that. "Where the hell are the others, I'm all out of ammo!"

"Two minutes!" the Major shouted as she weaved in and out of the Neuroi swarm.

"Lynne how are you doing for ammo?" Wolf shouted.

"Five more magazines." Lynne informed her wingman as she pulled back her anti-armour rifle's bolt.

Wolf put herself between the Neuroi and Lynne, if they got close, Lynne didn't have the weaponry to defend herself. Wolf gunned down all the Neuroi cubes that got near with her .45, until she was on her last magazine. _I can't believe the major hasn't found the core yet _and_ reinforcements still haven't arrived_. "This is FUBAR!"

Just as Wolf's .45's slide locked back signifying that it was out of ammo, three rockets streaked past, quickly followed Eila and Hartmann.

"You have no idea how happy we are to see you!" Wolf shouted to them, "I just ran out of bullets."

"Don't waste it," Barkhorn said as she flew past with Sanya and threw one of her MG 42s to Wolf.

"Thank you ma'am," Wolf said as she broke off and circled around back to Lynne, "let's pull back a bit, get some more distance between you and the swarm."

Lynne nodded and the pair fell back. Once they were in position, the Major shouted, "Core located, it's breaking off back to the mainland, don't let it get away!"

"You think you could make that shot, Lynne?" Wolf asked with a mischievous grin.

"I'll give it a try," Lynne said, shouldering her rifle. She lined up the shot, took a deep breath, and fired.

"Nice shot, Lynne," Shirley complimented over the radio.

"Well done," Wolf said approvingly. The Neuroi cubes were disintegrating around the other Witches. "Since you killed the core, drinks are on you tonight."

Lynne looked at her sternly, "No, we are not going to the pub again, you got arrested last time, remember?"

"Are you going to hold that against me forever?" Wolf joked. "Let's hurry back, I don't want to miss lunch, and you know how much Shirley and Barkhorn eat right after a mission."


End file.
